Stories by Rich & Pam Martin and Renee Johnson
How great is our God? How marvelous are the works of His hands!
Listening to, or trusting in, the Holy Spirit is hard. Even if you have a long and close relationship, there are times when you wonder if you heard correctly. These next two stories have completely different needs, but in each, God worked out what was needed, just when it was needed. "God is the God of Just in Time."
Our friend Rich was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The lymphatic system protects us from infection and disease. It is part of our immune system. Lymph fluid travels through your lymph nodes scattered throughout your body. The fluid captures bacteria, viruses, damaged cells, or cancer cells and hauls them off to the nearest lymph node. There, white blood cells attack and destroy these foreign bodies. The lymph fluid then carries the destroyed bacteria to your liver or kidneys to be filter from your blood - if everything is working as God designed it.
Unfortunately, cancer cells can be dispersed throughout your body using the very system that was designed to protect you from them. Rich had six rounds of chemo and twenty-three rounds of radiation. The treatments were killing him. But a cancer doctor from Ellis Fischel Hospital in Columbia finally talked the local doctors into treating Rich for his extremely low blood count. Rich’s weight had dropped from 225 down to160 lbs. It was a rough year.
Having survived cancer is the miracle-within-the-miracle of this story.
After church one Sunday Rich, Pam, Laurie, and I went to lunch. Our conversation turned to tithing, a sore subject for Laurie and me at the time. Then Rich and Pam shared their story.
They found themselves with their backs to the financial wall. Pam had taken over as money manager while Rich was going through his cancer treatment. As Pam sat down to pay bills, she found there was not enough money to go around. She had to either write their tithe check or make the house payment. Long ago they promised God they would tithe – faithfully, so with trepidation she wrote the check.
They understood that the skills they had acquired in life was what allowed them to earn a good living. These skills came from God.
“You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.” Deuteronomy 8:18
Now she had to contact the bank. She explained they did not have the money to make the mortgage payment. The teller put her on hold. Finally, the teller came back on the line and said, “I looked up your account, and you are one payment ahead, so you’re covered.” Imagine that!!! Do you know that tithing is the only time in the bible that God tells us to test Him?
“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.” Malachi 3:10
Renee Johnson shares a similar story of God’s provision and goodness.
In 2012 my husband Ryan was working hard to support our family of four. Things got tough as I was still too ill to work but not approved by doctors to seek employment, therefore I was not allowed to collect unemployment (even though I was laid off.)
So…we prayed.
We had exhausted all our resources. We had a mortgage. Our house was on the market for four years and hadn’t sold. We knew we didn’t have enough to make our next payment.
So… we prayed.
The next morning, we were awakened by an unexpected knocking on our door. A good friend whom we hadn’t seen for about six months said he was “prompted by the Lord to go to the bank and withdraw $1,000.00 for us.” That was the amount of our mortgage payment!
He handed us a crunched-up envelope of money. He said he had turned around once to go home because he wasn’t sure if this was just crazy or what.
We all stood in awe of the power of Jesus, the kindness and obedience of our friend, and the relief in our minds.
When our bank opened, we called. We started to share that we were making our monthly payment and our bank contact listened politely then said, “I heard the Lord ask me to pay your mortgage for the month. So, I already did.”
What!? A second prayer answered?? We didn’t know what to say. But we thanked him over and over. I remember crying as I handed Ryan the phone.
We went and deposited the cash from our friend that morning so we could have it ready to go for next month’s payment. It was an absolute blessing and complete mystery to us how God could love us so dearly and take care of us so well just from one prayer. That sounds silly, I know! But of course, He can do anything.
We had seen the power in prayer regarding so many things. How God saved me and cared for me personally. And here we were again, blessed beyond belief.
Later that day I went to the hospital for an infusion. I was still extremely ill and required surgical placement of a catheter into my heart for infusions of strong medications to keep my heart healthy and keep sepsis at bay.
On the way to my chair, I received a phone call. A friend asked if I would meet her in the parking lot after my infusion. I said yes. When I arrived, her car was stuffed to the roof with food! Ryan and I had been choosing between diapers and soap, or milk and diapers. My mind was blown. I called Ryan and together we rejoiced and thanked our friend.
We loaded all of it into my car and I threw my arms around my dear friend. Looking into my eyes she said the Lord had spoken to her. He had asked her to help us. In praying and seeking God’s heart for this, she asked if she could pay our mortgage for six months!
What do you say to something like that?!? You’ve been blessed all day long with specific prayers answered and now you are given abundantly more than you could’ve ever asked for (or imagined). Sounds like God’s faithfulness to me, friends!
So, we used the banked amount from our early morning friend that next month and she took over paying the mortgage for six months after that. It wasn’t until then that our house sold.
We give God all the Glory. He is Mighty to save and provide. He sees us in our low places and raises us up. Keep showing God your heart for Him by seeking Him first. Ryan and I didn’t earn these blessings or meet some criteria for God. He loves us. He blessed us in His timing, then wiped away all the stress.
I hope this testimony blesses you! Thank you, Jesus.
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